1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lists of information and, more particularly, to systems and methods for automatically creating lists given one or more examples.
2. Description of Related Art
The World Wide Web (“web”) provides a vast amount of information of different types, including textual data, video data, and audio data. This information is often scattered among many web servers and hosts using many different formats.
One particular type of information often present in the web includes lists, such as lists of restaurants, lists of automobiles, lists of names, etc. Lists may be identified in a number of different ways. For example, a list may include an ordered list or unordered list. Special tags in a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) document identify the presence of ordered and unordered lists. An ordered list commences with an <OL> tag; whereas an unordered list commences with an <UL> tag. Each item in an ordered or unordered list is preceded by an <IL> tag.
Another type of list may include a definition list. A special tag in a HTML document identifies the presence of a definition list. A definition list commences with a <DL> tag. Each item in a definition list is preceded by a <DT> tag. Yet another type of list may include document headers. Special tags in a HTML document identifies headers using <H1> through <H6> tags. Other types of lists may be presented in yet other ways. For example, a list may be presented as items in a table or as items separated by commas or tabs.
There currently exists no mechanisms for quickly and efficiently generating lists of items given one or more examples. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for mechanisms to automatically generate lists of items based on one or more examples, both quickly and efficiently.